Romeo Must Die!.... but he doesn't... and neither does any other major character

This weeks installment features the play Romeo and Juliet by one Billy Shakes and the movie Romeo Must Die starring Jet Li and Aaliyah. The play is a timeless classic, one of Shakespeare's many tragedies and a story that has inspired probably thousands of adaptations. The tale of star crossed lovers forbidden to be together but fight to make it happen no matter what is too irresistible and universal to ignore. Almost anyone can relate and honestly it's a formula that never gets old. I say formula because it kind of is. Male from one faction, female from other faction, both factions hate each other and have been fighting for years, male meets female, falls in love, families fight to keep them apart, the end up together in the end and the families see the error of their ways, the end. It can be applied to almost any situation and the storyteller can go wild within this formula and never touch the core story. A classic for the ages.

Many of the modern adaptations that are put out there are mostly loose adaptations and sometimes intermediate, very few films have been close adaptations. I think the main reason for this is that in a Shakespearean tragedy everyone dies at the end except for one person to tell the story and that is kind of a downer. So most adaptation tend opt out of all the death and go for the more happy ending when the lovers can be together and rivalries are over.

That is what Romeo Must Die did. It is a loose adaptation that took their story and plugged in some key elements from the play. They had a "Romeo" and a "Juliet", they had the warring families aaaaand.... that's about it. I would have to say this film was an analogy bordering on a commentary. The only direct allusion to the play is the title, but there isn't even a Romeo in the film. Also the relationship between the two main characters wasn't very believable. Other than some light flirting, there was never really any moments between them that showed me they had fallen in love. They seemed like good buddies at the end, not lovers. It sometimes feels that they realized they story was similar to Romeo and Juliet about half way through filming and then decided to put Romeo in the title so they weren't called on copying the play, instead they made it look like an adaptation. Fun movie to watch but too much just didn't make sense.

Hombre de Bate: Primero Ano

Batman for two assignments in a row?! Someone pinch me. Again best class ever. Today's installment is Batman: Year One by Frank Miller. Mr. Miller is one of the most significant contributors to the Batman anthology. This story, though, is important because it shows Batman in a completely different light. It shows him struggling, unsure, not confidant, and making mistakes. Something we almost never see in the caped crusader. It tells the story of two men. Both struggling to make sense of chaos that is Gotham city. Bruce Wayne and James Gordan.

Bruce Wayne fresh home from his journeys, training and honing his skills. He returns to a city overrun with corruption and the force in place to protect its citizens is just as corrupt. He wants to honor his vow to rid Gotham of crime but is frustrated because he can't find the right method, the right way to strike fear into the hearts of men. It shows his fumbling with fighting crime and how he becomes the Bat. A great insight into the first year of a legend and how he meets his biggest ally in fighting crime, James Gordan.

James Gordan is a fresh lieutenant just transferred to Gotham City. From the context I gather that he wrongfully accused a cop of a crime and was transferred because of it. As soon as he gets to Gotham he knows something is wrong. He is a good man in the middle of a corrupt infrastructure. He is just shocked to see it goes all the way up to the commissioner. Struggling to be a good man in a sea of corruption he sees the good that Batman is doing despite his methods and this his help takes down the bad cops and vows to clean up the department.

The film that we paired with this story is surprisingly enough Batman: Year One. A new animated feature film. This is the definition of a close adaptation. This is basically a panel by panel recreation of the graphic novel. Some of the narration was omitted and they took out Gordan smoking, but other than that it is the same exact story, even down to the dialogue. So this is a transposition adaptation at it's finest. Highly recommended.

bonus note: Batman Begins would be consisdered a loose analogous adaptation of Batman: Year One.

bonus bonus note: We also get a nice little glimpse into the beginnings of Selena Kyle as Catwoman.